The present invention relates to a method for operating a navigation appliance, and to an arrangement for carrying out the method.
Such a method for operating a navigation appliance is known from laid-open specification DE 43 01 875 A1. This outlines the prior art to be that traffic jams and accidents are displayed on the basis of traffic information received. A recommended road to the destination is output taking into account the traffic information. To allow for the driver""s knowledge, on the other hand, the disclosure in the laid-open specification makes provision for the driver to enter points which he wishes to bypass. A recommended route is calculated taking into account the points which are to be avoided.
Navigation appliances, particularly in the field of motor vehicles, are used for routing and for display thereof on a screen, preferably using a digitally displayed map. Modern systems can use xe2x80x9cdynamic routingxe2x80x9d. This involves such a navigation system being combined, by way of example, with an RDF radio, a mobile telephone and/or similar means. Such a combination is used when using current traffic information to determine the best route. Such a system is described on pages 16 ff in the periodical mot/Auto Guide 4/1999, for example. To use it, a driver normally enters destination coordinates in the form of an address using an input unit. The start coordinate used is the current position of the vehicle. The system can then use a service for the purpose of additionally obtaining traffic information. The TMC traffic radio announcement system accessible in Germany transmits traffic information data for this purpose. In addition, there are service providers which provide telematics data, for example using a mobile radio network. The system described includes the information received in the calculation of a route fully automatically. In contrast to previous static navigation systems, these dynamic systems are therefore able to use external sources to include and take into account current road information, such as traffic jams, fog or other circumstances, in the route planning as well.
A drawback of these systems is that previous systems do not allow the user to have any influence on the handling of this additional information.
It is therefore an object of the present information to specify a method and an arrangement which do not have the drawbacks cited above.
This object can be achieved by a method for operating a navigation appliance having a central processor unit and a storage medium which contains a digitized map, comprising the following steps:
entering a route using destination coordinates which can be selected on the map,
receiving traffic jam data via an external source,
displaying a calculated route and the respective traffic jam data,
displaying a route section with a traffic jam graphically,
output of received traffic jam data on an output unit in editable form,
reception of editing commands for the output traffic jam data from an input device,
calculation of a new route or route section taking into account the edited traffic jam data following reception of a calculation command via the input device.
An area can be defined which is not used for calculating a new route section, wherein the area may be defined graphically by a geometric shape. A route section can be entered manually as a traffic jam area. When the traffic jam data are being edited, the respective data for a traffic jam can be selected sequentially starting with the traffic jam nearest the starting point. A traffic jam starting point and a traffic jam ending point can be entered for the manual entry.
The object can further be achieved by a navigation appliance comprising:
a central processor unit,
a storage medium which contains a digitized map,
means for receiving traffic jam data via an external source,
a display unit for displaying a calculated route and the respective traffic jam data,
means for outputting received traffic jam data on the display unit in editable form,
means for editing the traffic jam data, with the means including an input apparatus, and
means for calculating a new route or route section taking into account the edited traffic jam data.
The input apparatus can be a rotation sensor, a pressure sensor, a joystick, an input-sensitive display, a gesture interpretation apparatus, or a voice recognition unit. The means for receiving traffic jam data may be a mobile telephone or a radio capable of receiving traffic jam messages.
One advantage of the present information is that, besides fully automatically bypassing traffic jams, the driver is also provided with a further option. In this context, he can manually select which traffic jam on the route is relevant and is to be bypassed. In addition, particular subsections of the route can also be barred manually, or particular areas not to be used for the bypass can be selected.